TEHRAN -- The 15th edition of the Muslim Youth International Festival of Visual Arts opened Monday in the northern Iranian city of Gorgan.

The festival has been held nationwide previously but artists from Turkey, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan participated in this edition of the gala, the secretary of the festival Mahmud Shaluii mentioned during a press conference on Sunday.
“We invited some countries, particularly the members of ECO, to take part in the festival but some of them could not participate due to time limitations,” Shaluii mentioned.
Some 177 Iranian artists are participating in the festival out of which 73 participants are females. The attendees are from all of Iran’s provinces and the number of participants has increased in comparison with the 14th edition, he added.
Sculptures, cartoons, calligraphy artworks, graphics, drawing, miniatures and paintings are on display during the festival.
Veteran artists Mostafa Aqamiri, Mojtaba Moharrami, Javad Alizadeh, Ardeshir Rostami, Bahman Abdi and Jalal Shabahang chaired the jury of the festival.
The festival will conclude on August 29.